JP2003063288A - Vehicular seat rotating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent changes in rotation operating torque by suppressing moving amount of a guide groove at the time of adjusting rotation operating torque at a small degree, and to properly adjust the rotation operating torque. SOLUTION: A boss portion 34 is formed at a joining portion of a lower plate 1 and a set plate 3, and dented by a suitable amount, thereby changing an interval of the above plates and adjusting bending amount of an upper plate 2 and the set plate 3 to add suitable sliding resistance to each ball 61, 62. An opposing direction of a guide groove 42 and a guide groove 41 and/or an opposing direction of a guide groove 51 and a guide groove 52 are respectively inclined to the joining portion of the lower plate 1 and the set plate 3.

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotating device for a vehicle seat, and more particularly, to a ring-shaped upper plate which is rotatable via a ball on a ring-shaped lower plate. The present invention relates to an improvement in the structure of a rotating device having a supported structure, in which a rotating operation torque can be appropriately adjusted. 2. Description of the Related Art An example of a vehicle seat rotating device is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view of the rotating device, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3. The rotating device is
As shown in FIG. 3, it is composed of a ring-shaped lower plate 1 fixed to the floor side, and a ring-shaped upper plate 2 which is concentrically arranged above and fixed to the seat. As shown in FIG. 4, the lower plate 1 extends substantially horizontally from the outer peripheral portion 13 to the intermediate portion 11 and the inner peripheral portion 12 in the radial direction while gradually increasing in height.
A concave groove having an arc-shaped cross section that is open upward is formed in a curved shape on the entire circumference of the plate surface to form a guide groove 41. The upper plate 2 is stepwise lowered from the outer peripheral portion 22 to the inner peripheral portion 21, and the inner peripheral portion 21 is located above the intermediate portion 11 of the lower plate 1. At the position directly above the groove 41, a concave groove having an arc-shaped cross section that opens downward is formed over the entire circumference to form a guide groove 42. A ball 61 is provided in an annular space formed by the guide grooves 41 and 42. The inner peripheral portion 31 of the set plate 3 is connected to the inner peripheral portion 12 of the lower plate 1 by caulking pins 71, and the plate surface of the set plate 3 extends above the inner peripheral portion 21 of the upper plate 2. An outer peripheral portion 32 of the set plate 3 has a guide groove 52 formed with a concave groove having an arc-shaped cross section that opens downward over the entire circumference, and serves as a guide groove 52. The plate surface of the upper plate inner peripheral portion 21 immediately below the guide groove 52. Is formed with a guide groove 51 having an arc cross section that opens upward. The ball 62 is inserted into the annular space formed by the guide grooves 51 and 52.
Is interposed. Thus, the upper plate 2
The inner peripheral portion 21 is held by the set plate 3 and the lower plate 1 via the balls 61 and 62 from above and below and is smoothly rotated. In addition, the guide grooves 41, 42, 51,
The radius of curvature of 52 is slightly larger than the radius of the balls 61 and 62. [0004] By the way, the rotational operation torque of the upper plate 2 after the lower plate 1, the upper plate 2 and the set plate 3 are assembled may be excessively large or small due to variations in the press accuracy at the time of production. There is. For example, in the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-129794, as shown in FIG. 4, a predetermined portion of the inner peripheral portion 31 of the set plate 3 protruding downward around the through hole 311 through which the caulking pin 71 is inserted. A circular boss portion 34 having a height G is formed, and while the rotational operation torque of the upper plate 2 is measured, the boss portion 34 is pressurized from above and below and gradually crushed and plastically deformed (FIG. 5). Intermediate portion 11 and outer peripheral portion 32 of set plate 3
Is gradually reduced so that the rotational operation torque of the upper plate 2 becomes an appropriate magnitude.
At this time, the rotation operation torque is adjusted by the guide grooves 41, 42,
The upper plate is reciprocated several times until the torque value is stabilized by forming a concave portion following the outer peripheral surfaces of the balls 61 and 62 on a part of the receiving surfaces of the balls 51 and 52, thereby performing “fitting-in”. However, if the vertical distance between the intermediate portion 11 of the lower plate 1 and the outer peripheral portion 32 of the set plate 3 is gradually reduced by crushing the boss portion 34,
For example, as shown in FIG.
As a result, the center of the guide groove 52 is displaced from the position immediately above the guide groove 51 toward the inner peripheral side by an angle θ1 with an angle θ1. Referring to FIG. 6, the distance from the center position X of the guide groove 52 of the set plate 3 to the caulking pin 71 before bending is set to L, and the boss portion 34 is crushed so that the set plate inner peripheral portion 31 of this portion is crushed. Moves downward by T, the above θ1 becomes approximately T / L.
In the drawing, X ′ is a moving position of the center of the guide groove 52 after bending. As described above, the center of the guide groove 52 of the set plate 3 is shifted from the position immediately above the original opposing position with respect to the center of the guide groove 51 of the upper plate 2.
As a result, since the balls 61 and 62 come off from the recesses formed in the guide grooves 51 and 52 during the above-mentioned “break-in”, there is a problem that the rotation operation torque at the time of adjustment largely fluctuates. In FIG. 5, the bending of the set plate 3 is exaggerated for ease of understanding. Therefore, the present invention solves such a problem, and the amount of movement of the guide groove at the time of adjusting the rotational operation torque is suppressed to prevent the fluctuation of the rotational operation torque, and the rotational operation torque can be appropriately adjusted. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular seat rotation device having the above configuration. [0007] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first plate (2) fixed to one of a vehicle seat and a vehicle floor, and a vehicle seat. And a second plate (1) fixed to the other of the floor of the vehicle, and coupled to the second plate (1), so that the periphery of the first plate (2) can be rotated together with the second plate (1). A third plate (3) sandwiched in the up-down direction, and a surface of the first plate (2) facing the second plate (1) is a circle or circle centered on the rotation center of the first plate (2). An arc-shaped first guide groove (42) is formed,
The second plate (1) faces the first guide groove (42) in a circular or arc shape centered on the rotation center of the first plate (2) on a surface facing the first plate (2). A guide groove (41) is formed, and a circular or arcuate third guide centered on the rotation center of the first plate (2) is formed on a surface of the first plate (2) facing the third plate (3). A groove (51) is formed, and a third guide groove having a circular or arc shape centered on the rotation center of the first plate (2) is formed on a surface of the third plate (3) facing the first plate (2). A fourth guide groove (52) facing the (51) is formed, between the first guide groove (42) and the second guide groove (41), and between the third guide groove (51) and the fourth guide groove (52). ), A resistance reducing member (61, 62) having a circular cross section for reducing frictional resistance during rotation between the plates (1, 2, 3) is provided. The fourth guide groove (52) is positioned closer to the joint between the second plate (1) and the third plate (3) than the third guide groove (51). The fourth guide groove (52) and the third guide groove (5)
The facing direction of 1) is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, and / or
Alternatively, the first guide groove (42) and the second guide groove (42) are located such that the first guide groove (42) is located closer to the joint between the second plate (1) and the third plate (3) than the second guide groove (41). Guide groove (41)
Are inclined with respect to the vertical direction. In the present invention, the opposing direction of the fourth guide groove and the third guide groove is set so that the fourth guide groove is positioned closer to the joint between the second plate and the third plate than the third guide groove. And / or the opposite direction of the first guide groove and the second guide groove is vertical so that the first guide groove is located closer to the joint between the second plate and the third plate than the second guide groove. Even if the lower plate and the upper plate or the set plate are bent by changing the facing distance between the lower plate and the set plate, the center of one of the opposing guide grooves is The amount of movement with respect to the center can be reduced. As a result, the ball does not come off from the recess formed in a part of each guide groove due to “break-in” at the time of adjusting the rotational operation torque, so that a problem that the rotational operation torque at the time of adjustment greatly fluctuates is avoided. And the rotational operation torque can be appropriately adjusted. The reference numerals in parentheses indicate the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiments described later. FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional perspective view of the apparatus, and the cross-sectional portion is along the same cross-sectional line as FIG. 4 showing the prior art. In FIG. 1, an inner peripheral portion 31 of a set plate 3 serving as a third plate is coupled to an inner peripheral portion 12 of a lower plate 1 serving as a second plate extending substantially horizontally by caulking pins 71, and an outer peripheral portion 32 of the set plate 3 is provided. The upper plate 2 is a first plate which extends obliquely outward, and is bent downward stepwise and then obliquely downward in a space formed between the lower plate 1 and the intermediate portion 11 which is concavely annular. Of the inner peripheral portion 21 is located. In the inner peripheral portion 32 of the set plate 3, a substantially circular area around the through hole 311 into which the caulking pin 71 is inserted protrudes toward the lower plate 1 to form a boss portion 34 as a distance adjusting means. An outer peripheral portion 32 of the set plate 3 extending obliquely upward has a guide groove 52 having an arc-shaped cross section which is open obliquely downward.
On the other hand, a guide groove 51 having an arc-shaped cross section that opens obliquely upward is formed in the inner peripheral portion 21 extending obliquely downward of the upper plate 2.
52 are obliquely opposed. That is, the guide groove 52
Is located closer to the joint of the caulking pin 71 than the guide groove 51, and the line connecting the center of the guide groove 51 and the center of the guide groove 52 is inclined by a predetermined angle from the vertical direction toward the joint of the caulking pin 71. . And these guide grooves 51,
A ball 62 is rotatably positioned in the holding hole 631 of the resin ring 63 and serves as a resistance reducing member. Each of the guide grooves 51 and 52 is formed in a circular shape about the center of rotation of the upper plate 2. The outer peripheral portion 13 and the intermediate portion 11 of the lower plate 1
Is bent into a chevron-shaped cross-section, and an annular guide groove 41 having an arc-shaped cross-section that opens obliquely upward is formed at the skirt portion thereof, while the inner peripheral portion 21 that extends obliquely downward of the upper plate 2 is oblique. Annular guide groove 42 having an arc-shaped cross section that opens downward
Are formed in a curved shape, and these guide grooves 41 and 42 face each other in the inclined direction. That is, the guide groove 42 is located closer to the joint portion by the caulking pin 71 than the guide groove 41,
A line connecting the center of 1 and the center of the guide groove 42 is inclined by a predetermined angle from the vertical direction toward the connecting portion by the caulking pin 71. A ball 61 is rotatably positioned in the holding hole 641 of the resin ring 64 as a resistance reducing member between the guide grooves 41 and 42. Each of the guide grooves 41 and 42 is provided in the upper plate 2.
Are formed in a circle centered on the rotation center of. In this way, the inner peripheral portion 21 of the upper plate 2 has the lower plate 1
And the set plate 3 so as to be rotatable.
Here, the curvature radii of the guide grooves 41, 42, 51, 52 are slightly larger than the radii of the balls 61, 62. The other structure is the same as the conventional one already described. In the rotating device having such a structure, when the set plate 3 is moved downward by T toward the inner peripheral portion 12 of the lower plate 1 by crushing the boss portion 34 by an appropriate amount, the outer peripheral portion 32 of the set plate 3 The distance between the set plate 3 and the upper plate 2 or between the upper plate 2 and the lower plate 1 is reduced. Appropriate sliding resistance is given to the balls 61 and 62 located. The inner peripheral portion 31 of the set plate 2
Of the center of the guide groove 52 when is moved downward by T
(Indicated by an angle, which is assumed to be θ2) is considered in FIG. In FIG. 2, Y is a center position of the guide groove 52 of the set plate 2 before bending, and is at a position inclined by an angle α from the vertical direction as described above. The distance from the center position Y of the guide groove 52 to the caulking pin 71 is L. In this state,
When the boss portion 34 is crushed and the set plate inner peripheral portion 31 of this portion moves downward by T, the center of the guide groove 52 is shifted from the original position Y by an angle θ2 to a position Y ′.
Move to Here, θ2 is approximately T1 / L, and T1 <T
Therefore, θ2 <θ1 (see FIG. 6). That is,
If the center position of the guide groove 52 of the set plate 3 before bending is inclined by an angle α from the vertical direction toward the connecting portion by the caulking pin 71, the boss portion 34 is crushed and the outer peripheral portion 31 of the set plate 3 is crushed. Is moved downward by a certain amount T, the amount of movement of the center position of the guide groove 52 can be suppressed to a small value. Here, the movement amount of the center position of the guide groove 52 can be reduced as the angle α is increased,
The angle α is selected to be an appropriate size in consideration of the need to secure a supporting force for the seat load. As described above, according to this embodiment, when adjusting the rotational operation torque by changing the distance between the set plate 3 and the lower plate 1, the guide grooves 52 of the set plate 3 are used.
Can be kept small. Therefore, the ball 62 does not largely come off from the recess formed following the outer periphery of the ball 62, which is formed by abrasion on a part of the guide groove 52 due to the rotation of the upper plate during the torque adjustment. Fluctuations in the rotational operation torque during the adjustment can be kept small. In the above embodiment, the boss portion is formed as the gap adjusting means. In addition, a spacer plate or the like which can be crushed by an appropriate amount in the thickness direction is provided between the lower plate and the set plate to serve as the gap adjusting means. Is also good. In the above embodiment, the case where the outer peripheral portion 32 of the set plate 3 is bent has been described, but the same applies to the case where the inner peripheral portion 21 of the upper plate 2 or the intermediate portion 11 of the lower plate 1 is bent. In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the rotating device having a structure in which the lower plate 1 and the set plate 3 rotatably hold the upper plate 2 has been described. The present invention can also be applied to a rotating device having a structure in which the lower plate 1 as the first plate is held by the set plate 3 as the third plate and the upper plate 2 is rotatable. Furthermore, only one of the facing guide grooves may be inclined in the facing direction. Further, a resin ring body having a circular cross section can be used as the resistance reducing member instead of the ball. Further, the guide grooves 41, 42, 51, 52 may be formed in an arc shape instead of being formed in a circle centered on the rotation center of the upper plate 2. As described above, according to the vehicle seat rotating apparatus of the present invention, the amount of movement of the guide groove during the adjustment of the rotation operation torque is suppressed to a small degree, thereby preventing the fluctuation of the rotation operation torque. Thereby, the rotation operation torque can be appropriately adjusted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional perspective view of a rotating device showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating movement of a center of a guide groove. FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view of a rotating device. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a set plate is bent. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the movement of the center of the guide groove. [Description of Signs] 1 ... Lower plate, 2 ... Upper plate, 3 ... Set plate, 34 ... Boss part, 41, 42 ... Guide groove, 51, 5
2 ... guide groove, 61, 62 ... ball.

   ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page    F term (reference) 3B087 BA07 BB12 BB14 DB05 DE02                 3J101 AA02 AA32 AA42 AA53 AA63                       AA73 AA82 AA85 BA35 BA50                       BA53 BA54 BA55 BA63 EA31                       FA41 GA01

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A first plate fixed to one of a vehicle seat and a vehicle floor, and a second plate fixed to the other of the vehicle seat and the vehicle floor. A third plate coupled to the second plate, the third plate rotatably vertically sandwiching a periphery of the first plate together with the second plate;
A circular or arc-shaped first guide groove centered on the rotation center of the first plate is formed on a surface facing the plate, and a first plate of the first plate is formed on a surface of the second plate facing the first plate. A second guide groove facing the first guide groove is formed in a circular or arc shape about the center of rotation, and the first guide groove is formed in the first guide groove.
A third guide groove having a circular or arc shape centered on the rotation center of the first plate is formed on a surface of the plate facing the third plate, and is formed on a surface of the third plate facing the first plate. Has a fourth guide groove formed in a circular or arc shape centering on the rotation center of the first plate and facing the third guide groove, between the first guide groove and the second guide groove, and In a vehicle seat rotating device, a resistance reducing member having a circular cross section for reducing frictional resistance between the plates during rotation between the third guide groove and the fourth guide groove is provided. The fourth plate is positioned so as to be located closer to the joint between the second plate and the third plate than the third guide groove.
The opposing direction of the guide groove and the third guide groove is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, and / or the first guide groove is closer to the joint between the second plate and the third plate than the second guide groove. A rotating device for a vehicle seat, wherein a facing direction of the first guide groove and the second guide groove is inclined with respect to a vertical direction so as to be located.